The True Spring

Thomas Kidd is a history professor at the University of Baylor and thoughtful Christian author. He writes a weekly newsletter where he gives something of a backstage pass to the writing process. If you write, you should subscribe.

In one newsletter this summer, he counseled writers to always work on two major writing projects during the same season. He thinks this is wise because, as you juggle the various stages of the publication process (writing, editing, proofing layouts, gathering endorsements, printing, and promotion), you always have something to work on, even if, for example, one of the projects is with an editor for a few months.

I’m an idiot. I’m juggling three projects (not two) and feel like one is always about to go splat. I won’t do this again.

But in fairness, some aspects of my personal schedule and the publication schedules shifted in ways I hadn’t anticipated. The current ball in hand is a rough draft of a new project. I teamed up with my friend Stephen Morefield, a pastor and author, to write Enduring Grace, a devotional on the life and teaching of the Apostle Peter.

Below is a tiny excerpt I hope to include in our book. The excerpt comes from the final paragraph of my entry on John 21, the passage where Jesus reinstates Peter with his “do you love me” questions.

In popular culture the story of Easter is about new beginnings: yellow tulips poking through the ground in the springtime sun, bunnies scampering across green grass, the penitent turning over new leaves. But Easter is only generally about new beginnings because it is first about a particular new beginning—the dawn of a new age, the true spring. Easter is the story of how our sin dies with Jesus, and he raises us to life with him.

The roller coaster of transitions in our lives can cause us to drift from this, our core identity. But the good work Jesus begins in you, he sees to completion (Philippians 2:6). If you are drifting, as Peter was, come home to Jesus.

Today outside my window, gray clouds cover the sky, and dead leaves scatter the ground. Winter is coming.

But the true spring blooms. He has risen.

* Photo by Anthony DeLanoix on Unsplash